In alcoholic individuals studied during an early stage of alcohol withdrawal following hospital admission, cerebrospinal fluid norepinephrine concentrations were elevated in comparison to those found in the same individuals in a subsequent post-withdrawal, alcohol-free period. In brain samples obtained at autopsy from alcoholic individuals and matched controls, no differences in aldehyde dehydrogenase or monoamine oxidase A or B activities were found, but a significant reduction in brain beta-adrenergic receptor numbers and an elevation in GABA receptor numbers were present in the alcoholics.